Happy Birthday Jushiro
by KageRaion
Summary: December 21st is the birthday of Jushiro Ukitake, the kindest and most peace loving man in the Soul Society. During his very long life, there are certain birthdays he remembers more than others. Here are three of those times, from his youth as a student to the end of Quincy war.


_It's December 21st in Japan right now and that mean that it's Ukitake's birthday. So I wrote this little story to celebrate._

 _ **During his long life,**_ _ **Jūshirō Ukitake had celebrated many birthdays a little over 2000 to be exact. During all those years there are some that he remembers more than others.**_

 _ **The 1st one was after both his parents had died and it had felt so different to come home during the break from the academy to only have his siblings and aunt there.**_

Jūshirō woke up on the morning of his birthday and found his youngest brother shaking him.

"Big brother wake up"

"Okay okay, I'm up"

He sat up and looked at his brother who had slight worry in his eyes.

"What's the matter Kenji?"

"Are you okay big brother? You've been in bed since you got home"

The day after he had gotten home, a bad attack of his illness happened. It wasn't as bad as his worse ones but he'd been told to be on bedrest for a few days.

"Don't worry Kenji. I feel much better today"

He placed a hand on his brother's head and ruffled his hair.

"Besides, I don't want to be stuck in bed on my birthday"

"Great! I'm sure Aunt Emi and the others will be happy to hear that"

"Then go tell them that I will come very soon"

"Okay"

After his brother had left, Jūshirō slowly got up and put on a grey kimono along with a pair of black hakama.

He then walked out of his room and down to the kitchen and dinning room part of the house. As he opened the door, his youngest sister and his younger twin brothers tackled him to the floor in what he suspected to be a hug.

"Big brother you're up, said Ayame, his little sister"

"We thought you'd stay in bed all day until Kenji told us you felt better, said Kenta, the younger of the twins"

"Now now kids, be gentle with your brother or he might end up sick in bed again"

Hearing their aunt tell them that made all three let go of Jūshirō who sat up on the floor.

"You three don't have to worry about me but like Aunt Emi said, you have to be careful"

"Yes big brother"

The whole family then sat down to eat and after they had finsihed, they sat down in one of the bigger rooms were the younger kids all gave their oldest brother gifts.

The five youngest gave him things that seemed handmade while the two oldest gave him a book from a series he loved.

Their aunt had then handed him a gift with a letter on it.

"Your father asked me to give it to you if he ever would die before you graduated"

Jūshirō looked at her before reading the letter.

 _ **"To my oldest son, Jūshirō.**_

 _ **If you read this, that means I'm no longer among you all. It makes me sad to think that you may read this before you've graduated and I won't be able to personally say how proud I am of you. But I am very proud because despite your weak health, you're determined to one day stand among the members of Gotei 13.**_

 _ **Others like you may not have done that but you wouldn't let your health stop you.**_

 _ **Take care of yourself and your siblings. Do your best to achieve your goal of becoming a Soul Reaper and remember that your mother and I will always watch over you.**_

 _ **Your father"**_

With teary eyes, Jūshirō opened the gift and saw that it was a photo of him and his father from the day he entered the academy.

 _ ****_

 _ **The next birthday he wouldn't forget was his first one as a father.**_

He had been working the whole day and when he came home, he was meet by his siblings and his adoptive son, Katsurou.

The boy had his hands behind his back as if he was hiding something

"You got something there Suro?"

The boy nodded and Jūshirō knelt to his height. Katsurou then held out his hands and his father took the paper he held.

A big smile spread across his face when he saw that it was a drawing on the two of them. But it was the words writen on the bottom that made him smile the most.

 **"Otōsan daisuki"**

He then looked at Katsurou who had this big smile on his face.

"Happy birthday dad"

A few tears of joy made their way down Jūshirō's cheeks as he placed the drawing on the table before pulling the boy into a big hug which he happily returned.

"Thank you Suro"

He then let go of Katsurou and dried his eyes before looking at him.

"Even thought I didn't get it today, do you know what the greatest gift I've every gotten is?"

"No"

Jūshirō stood up before he picked up Katsurou.

"It's you that are the greatest gift I ever gotten. The day I found you and adopted you into the family, I got the son I've longed for for many years"

It was true, Jūshirō had always wanted kids of his own but he was afraid to marry someone because of one thing and that was the fear that his illness might be hereditary.

He didn't want his child to suffer like he had since he was just three years old.

So when had found Katsurou all alone in one of the worse parts of Rukongai, he hadn't hestitated to adopt the boy. Giving both of them a family.

He loved Katsurou with all of his heart and no matter what, he would always be there for him.

 _ ****_

 _ **December 21st 2003 was the birthday Jūshirō thought he wouldn't celebrate due to his sacrifice during the war with Quincies.**_

 _ **But he woke up in the 4th division were lieutenant Kotetsu had told him how he survived, his son had used a powerful healing Kidō to save his life and with that cure his illness.**_

Snow was falling over the Seireitei. Luckly, the barracks to all division had been rebuilt the previous month so no one had to worry about the cold.

Even though half a year had passed since the war, it was still weird for Jūshirō to be perfectly healthy for the first time in his 2000 year long life.

He was done with work for the day and made his way home, Katsurou had left a little earlier but never said why.

It was weird however to come home to a dark house since it wasn't that late and he knew Ayame and Kenji were home.

But he wasn't ready for what was happening when he entered the house.

The lights turned on and there stood not only Katsurou, Kenji and Ayame but also the rest of his siblings, his nieces and nephews, Shunsui and Nanao.

"Didn't expect all of us to show up, did you big brother, said Kenta"

"A few of you maybe but not everyone"

"Why did you think I left work earlier, said Katsurou

-I had to make sure everyone arrived on time"

"Suro..."

"We wanted to make this a special celebration since this day almost never happened, said Izumi, his oldest sister"

She then hugged her older brother.

"But you're still here with us and we can celebrate your birthday today"

Jūshirō hugged his sister back and a few tears appeared in his eyes.

"And I won't go anywhere for a very long time"

 _ **This was probably the biggest celebration for his birthday that he had ever had but he wouldn't have had it any other way since like his sister had said, it almost didn't happen.**_

 _ **But he was grateful for what his son had done and being able to live with a stronger health was the greatest gift he'd gotten.**_

Happy Birthday to my favorite Bleach character and the kindest man in the entire Soul Society

 __

 _Author's note_

 _According to the timeline on the Bleach wiki, the Fullbring arc took place in May of 2003 and the Quincy war took place from the beginning of June until June 18th of the same year._


End file.
